Is Eating Bread Part of a Healthy Diet?

Yes. Bread is a product with a wide range of flavors and nutrients. Its history dates back thousands of years, and bread still is one of the basis of diets in America, Europe, Middle East, and northern Africa. It is estimated that rice, corn, and wheat represent over 60 per cent of energy obtained from food worldwide, which makes bread a main staple for more than seven billion people.

Bread, also known as “the essence of life”, was already being baked as far back as the Neolithic–10 000 BCE–thanks to the expansion of agriculture. At that time, seeds used to be its main ingredient. 

The first loaf of bread similar in shape to what we know today was described on some Egyptian papyri. On them, the manufacturing process was described as well as the key role it played in the diet of those who participated in the construction of the famous Giza Pyramids, for example. Back then, bread was already deemed one of the most important possessions for humankind, just behind health and water.

Likewise, through History, bread has been used as a symbol by some religions– Catholicism and Judaism, for example. 

With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, bakery went through significant transformations up to our days, and it has continuously adapted to what consumers demand. 

Such is the case of baked goods with a larger amount of whole grains and different mixes of cereals and sprouted seeds, which provide more nutritional benefits. This is also complemented with vitamin and mineral fortification, micronutrients critical to health.

Types of Bread and Flour, and Their Impact in Our Body

Given the importance bread has as an essential element of a daily diet, efforts have been made to prepare it with different whole grains and their flours so as to provide a more varied diet. The amount and type of cereal in each recipe may vary and, therefore, the benefits each one offers are different. 

Here are some characteristics of different kinds of bread:

• Bread prepared with whole grains has a high content of dietary fiber, which strengthens digestive health. This is the case of wheat and rye bread. It is recommended for half the grains consumed in a day to be whole–their consumption is associated with a lower mortality rate, cardiac diseases, diabetes Type 2, and colorectal cancer. 
• Bread with oats and barley provides the body with beta-glucans–a kind of soluble fiber linked to a better control of glucose and cholesterol in the bloodstream. 
• Bread produced with corn stands out from the rest given its high levels of provitamin A and carotenes. 

It is worth mentioning that the cereals used to bake bread, including those produced with refined flours, contain vitamins and minerals such as iron and zinc. What’s more, they are rich in vitamin B complex. 

Benefits of Bread in a Diet

Each one of the cells in our bodies needs energy to perform internal processes like breathing, contracting of the heart, thinking, remembering, focusing, and moving the muscles–lifting a hand or blinking, for example. 

For that reason, it is essential to provide our organism with energy, and the main source of it are carbohydrates present in food. 

Cereals such as corn, wheat, rice, oats, barley, and rye contain large amounts of carbohydrates–between 65 and 75 per cent of their total weight. The European Food Safety Authority state the proper daily intake of carbohydrates for adults and children over the age of one should be between 45% and 60% of their total energy intake.   

Consequently, eating proper amounts of bread as part of a healthy diet–accompanied by regular physical activity–is a great alternative. Energy provided by bread allows us to perform our daily tasks immediately and also to store that energy to use it whenever we need it. 

It is imperative to have a balanced and varied diet, including foods like bread that, as previously mentioned, provide us with energy during different meals. For example, it is advised to have whole grain bread at breakfast to help you feel satiated for longer and have more energy at the beginning of the day. 

Meanwhile, including the carbohydrates offered by a sandwich as part of a post-workout routine fosters energy recovery. Finally, in order to meet the daily needs of energy and nutrients at all stages of life, it is necessary to eat the right amount of bread and other foods with high carbohydrate content. 

Paring your meals with some delicious bread is truly healthy, mostly for the energy and nutrients it brings.

Which Is the Best Bread? 

It is the one that allows you to integrate it to your diet and combine it with other foods so as to meet your nutritional needs. Of course, it also is the one you like the most–nowadays there is a wide range of flavors, smells, and textures to enjoy.